June 2008

Instruction

Forget the myths and find your game

By Carl Rabito, PGA, With Mike Chwasky; Photos By Terry Renna
The perpetuation of the many myths in traditional golf instruction has led to countless injuries, inconsistent results and a world of frustration. Simply swinging the golf club in the way that the body is designed to move will lead to greater consistency and greater enjoyment for a significantly longer time.

Look to the finish to end sliced shots

By Pam Wright, LPGA, Photo By Warren Keating

One of the best indicators of a good golf swing is the finish. If there’s balance when the swing is over, it means there was probably balance during the swing. Often, players who slice do so because they don’t finish correctly. See the photo of the finish below?

Practice makes perfect with this simple drill

By Richard Stanwood, Illustration By Steve Karp
Here’s another easy tip to apply the next time you’re on the putting green. Simply place a golf ball about six inches behind your ball and make a stroke. If you miss the ball (swinging either above it or to the side), then your backswing path is offline or too steep. Take a look at the illustration, and you’ll see that I actually knock the second ball as my putter swings back.

Better pitching is a matter of perfecting your address positions

By Jeff Yurkiewicz, PGA, With Ryan Noll; Photography By Warren Keating
Playing well from within 100 yards is a must if you want to score well. Just look at the best players in the world. They all miss the fairway sometimes, but from within 100 yards, there isn’t a player out there who doesn’t expect to knock it close from “a hundie” and in. This is golf’s scoring zone, where the difference between a long birdie putt and a short tap-in can be made up by hitting the right kinds of shots.

Get your swing back on plane in a hurry

By Frank O
Talking about your swing plane is one thing, but seeing it on video is a whole lot better. Here at the TOUR Academy, we make an effort to film golfers from face on and down the target line so they can see for themselves whether their swing is on plane or not. The benefits my students get from seeing their swing plane on camera has greatly helped them improve.

Get your irons in check by observing one of the best ballstrikers in golf

By Brady Riggs, PGA, Photo by Warren Keating
Since his early days playing for England on two Walker Cup teams and making noise as an NCAA star at Northwestern, Luke Donald has had PGA Tour success in his sights. Having already cracked the top-60 in career earnings with more than $12 million to his credit, you’d have to say he’s right on track.

Putting really shouldn't be any more complicated than this

By Richard Stanwood, Illustration By Steve Karp
In my many years of teaching, I’ve read, heard, seen and been told a number of putting tips that, I feel, only serve to overcomplicate what should be a simple motion. I think putting is just rolling the ball, so I like to keep things simple. Here, I’m practicing a drill that helps me keep the ball on the right path. All I do is place two golf balls about six inches apart, and a foot in front of my ball, and then make a stroke.

Sean O'Hair's coach helps you hit it long (and down the middle) every time

By Steve Dahlby, PGA, With Charlie Schroeder
In early March, one of my students, Sean O’Hair, put on a master class in Total Driving at the PODS Championship. (The Tour computes Total Driving by “totaling a player’s rank in both driving distance and driving accuracy.”) For the week, Sean finished T15 in driving accuracy and 8th in driving distance, averaging 282.6 yards. Sean won that week—his second Tour victory—and earned a trip to the Masters. I couldn’t have been more proud.

Equipment

Choosing the right golf ball for your game can make all the difference

By Ryan Noll And Charlie Schroeder, Photo by David Johnston

Even golf magazine editors sometimes need to see things for ourselves. Throughout the year, we’re inundated with countless “golf ball test results,” indicating the performance benefits of one ball versus another. We admit there are real differences between golf ball categories—we don’t dispute that. But we’re also clever enough to understand that no two golf ball tests are exactly alike. In fact, they’re all done under different conditions, with different clubs, swing speeds, launch conditions, weather types and a bunch of other variables that are hard to quantify.

Travel

A glimpse at the best golf on the island of Kauai

By Charlie Schroeder
Towering above the island of Kauai is one of the wettest places on earth, Mt. Wai’ale’ale. It’s the island’s second tallest mountain peak, and with 460 inches of annual rainfall, boasts lush rain forests, vibrant flowers and waterfalls that cascade down Kauai’s steep mountain cliffs. It’s a beautiful thing to behold,especially when you’re miles away on a dry golf course.